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Angels are supposed to be worshiped and harmless, right? Well, not The Angel I got from Sloyd though. Might as well be a fallen angel. This is one tough nut to crack and solving it will require you to learn some new techniques.
The Angel is actually one of the best wire/string puzzles I've seen for a long time, and I've played with a fair share of them before. First, the puzzle is very well designed, with a perfect and symmetric shape. Even the color chosen for the string is white, which goes very well with the theme of the puzzle. The puzzle itself is quite challenging to solve, but when you finally do it you'll certainly feel a great sense of accomplishment.
This is a level 4/5 puzzle and, to be honest, I would've classified it as a pure level 5, mostly because of its complex movements, which in all fairness aren't that many, but enough to create a real mess with the string. The time to solve, at least for me, would also justify a level 5, and in this case it took me over two hours (not straight), between failed attempts and undoing several knots.
As you start, you see a large ring in the middle with two ends of the string going through it. At the ends are two smaller rings, but still large enough so they can't go through the main ring. There are also two wooden beads, and these can actually pass through the ring, but not through the angel's wings nor its head. Based on this information you'll have to come up with a way to remove the large ring from the frame.
Without going too much over the solving process, I can say that while the beads can't pass through the angel's wings, the smaller rings can. Try to do this a couple of times and see what you can do with them and how that helps you. It took me a while to even see this small detail. Putting the ring back in the angel is not at all easier or simpler. I didn't remember all the steps it took me to remove the ring in the first time, so I must have taken another hour or so to finally do it. I haven't gathered enough courage to solve the puzzle a second time, but considering the time it took me to solve and reset it (about 3 hours) I really am not looking forward to that. I know that I still have to learn the solution by heart to fully solve it and comprehend it, but I guess I'll leave that for another time...
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Closing Comments:
Solving a difficult puzzle is always a great and rewarding feeling. You know you have conquered its secret, but above all you feel you can tackle harder challenges afterwards. Wire puzzles sometimes share similar techniques and movements and when you solve a new one, you always learn something new. It's because of this that The Angel is now among my favorite wire/string puzzles.
I got this from Dale Overy at a Midlands Puzzle Party and was very frightened initially! I agree that it has a lot of string to get knotted but I found the sequence of moves to solve a very logical sequence and it only took me about 10 minutes. I'm going to have to retrieve it again and see how I do.
ReplyDeleteKevin
Puzzlemad
I think I'm wired to complicate things when they're simple. But I'll say it again, I think you're too good at them, because this is a level 4/5. It's supposed to be challenging ;-)
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